‘American Horror Story’: What We Know About Season 6

1. Several AHS vets will return

Angela Bassett, who previously appeared in three seasons of the anthology horror series, will be back, as she confirmed in February. Though we don’t know any specifics of her character, Bassett said Murphy gave her a few hints at the Golden Globes earlier this year. “He did tell me at the Golden Globes that [my character] would imbibe a little bit too much and yet I was very intuitive,” she told Entertainment Weekly.

While Bassett is the only star so far to officially confirm her return to the show, AHS alum Sarah Paulson is also reportedly set to make a series comeback. The actress has yet to announce her participation, but Bassett recently teased to EW that Paulson is reportedly “somehow the boss” to her character.

It’s also been rumored that longtime AHS cast members Emma Roberts and Evan Peters will return for the series, although that has yet to be confirmed.

Update 5/27/16: Jessica Lange has confirmed she won’t be returning to the series next season. “No, I think … you know, I had four years with that, four seasons. And each year was a marvelous character; everything changed from one year to another, which made it very interesting for me. But … no,” she recently said of the possibility “Sometimes you come to the end of something, and it has had its natural [course].”

Update 6/14/16: Matt Bomer has confirmed he’ll be returning in some capacity, telling Magic Radio, “I don’t know anything [about season 6], electively so. It’s coming back, and I know that I will be a part of it at some point, which is great and I’m incredibly excited about, but sort of electively and also non-electively, I don’t really know what the concept is.”

Update 6/28/16: Cheyenne Jackson has confirmed via his Twitter that he will be back for the next season of AHS.

Update 9/12/16: Cuba Gooding Jr. has confirmed he’ll appear in the upcoming season, telling ABC News, “When Ryan calls you and says, ‘Hey can you do this? Would you like to do that?’ It’s an immediate yes, no matter what it is.”

2. Lady Gaga might be back

Lady Gaga | Source: FX

The big star of Season 5 was, of course, Lady Gaga, whose performance won her a Golden Globe earlier this year. Murphy has already taken to Twitter to publicly announce that he has asked Gaga to return to the show for its upcoming season. Though the actress-singer has yet to confirm whether she accepted his invitation, it looks like there’s a strong chance that she’ll be back.

“I hear, I think, perhaps that [Gaga’s] out to return. She had a good time with us,” Basset said of the potential return. Update 3/4/2016: Gaga confirmed she’s returning to the show during a visit to the Elvis Duran and the Morning Show.

3.It will be darker and less opulent than last season

Ryan Murphy | Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

As usual, FX execs and Murphy are staying tight-lipped about the exact concept and setting for the next season of AHS. But they aren’t keeping us completely in the dark. Murphy and several other members of the creative team have dropped hints here and there as to what we can expect.

“The next thing we’re crafting up is very, very different than this. Not smaller. But just not opulent. More rogue and more dark,” Murphy told the International Business Times in October.

In January, FX President John Landgraf also revealed that the new season would move back and forth between the past and current time. It will be “set in the present [with] echoes of the past … It’s set in two time periods,” he said, according to TVLine.

Update 3/22/16: At the series recent Paleyfest panel, Murphy revealed that he’s working with two different ideas for next season’s themes.” “The interesting thing about the next season is that we’ve been working on two ideas at once, which we’ve never done,” he said, per Deadline. Though he didn’t elaborate much further, he did hint that the creative team was influenced by the opera. He also confirmed that both ideas they’re working on “have elements of children.”

Update 7/22/16: A short video seemingly dropping clues about the new season was shown at the show’s Fearless VR Experience at San Diego Comic-Con. In the video, which is currently only available exclusively on E! News, a gurney is being wheeled into what looks like a morgue.

Update 7/28/16: The show has teased the upcoming season via three very brief teasers released on Snapchat, seen below. The first showcases smoke rising from an isolated farmhouse, with thunder, a chain saw and screams heard in the background. The second shows a mysterious hand grabbing a knife over what looks like a baby’s crib and the third illustrates a woman’s feet running up a staircase.

Update 7/29/16: The full set of new teasers for the upcoming sixth season has been released. Like the brief clips previously released, these videos are similarly cryptic and full of creepy images, like a mutilated head, a lone farmhouse, and a set of bloody hands reaching out from underneath a set of stairs.

Update 8/10/16: As FX boss John Landgraf confirmed at the TCA press tour, only one of the teasers we’ve seen actually reveals the show’s actual theme and setting, while the rest are misdirects. Start your guessing now!

Update 8/19/16: FX dropped another hint about the show with a brand-new teaser, seen above, that connects Season 6 with all previous seasons.

4. Bassett will make show history this season

Angela Bassett | Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

In addition to starring in Season 6, Bassett also revealed that she will be directing an episode — marking the first time that a female has helmed an installment of the series. “[I’ll direct] at least one [episode],” the actress announced during an appearance on ABC’s The Chew. “We usually have male directors but [I’ll] be the first female director.”

This won’t be Bassett’s first time behind the camera. Last year, she also directed the Lifetime movie, Whitney.

5. It will likely premiere this fall

Ryan Murphy and Lady Gaga | Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Though prior seasons of the show have all debuted sometime in early October, FX has decided to bump up the premiere of Season 6 by several weeks. The forthcoming season is now set to kick off on Wednesday, September 14 at 10 p.m. ET.

Update 6/29/16: The show unveiled its mysterious new logo for the upcoming season via its social media accounts, seen below: